The most notable of these firms is New York City’s Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a company that dominates the credit-default swap industry in America and that facilitates over $11 trillion in transactions on an annual basis.

Now, the DTCC is looking to looking to shift its database of transactions—again, worth trillions—over to the blockchain. The company hopes to have its own distributed ledger network go live in the second half of 2018.

The DTCC’s shift to the blockchain is Exhibit A for the kinds of mainstream adoption that blockchain and cryptocurrency enthusiasts all over the world have been patiently awaiting.

Axoni’s groundbreaking developments could cause a bona-fide rat race on Wall Street, challenging firms to adopt the benefits of the crypto space faster than others. When profits can be improved, no one on Wall Street wants to be left behind.

Microsoft, too, has deemed cryptotech like Ethereum as enterprise-grade, and thus the global software giant is creating middleware suites that will make it more attractive and easier than ever for Wall Street to embrace blockchain innovations.

Ongoing, reputable developments like this will surely instigate an avalanche of Wall Street blockchain use-cases in 2018 and beyond, undoubtedly giving the blockchain and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether unprecedented prestige in the mainstream.

Indeed, Wall Street firms don’t even have to directly invest in crypto (though all will at some point) for their blockchain adoptions to inspire widespread mainstream interest in cryptocurrencies.

It’s news like this, then, that could catapult many coins—especially Bitcoin, as the current #1—to new all-time price highs in 2018 that weren’t even considered possible in 2017.

If projects like the DTCC’s are successful, then Bitcoin reaching $7,000 by the end of 2018 could be a reasonable target.

TLDR: Major Wall Street firms are adopting blockchain innovations in 2018, which could flood trillions of dollars into the cryptocurrency world in the coming months.